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The Middle Way is an integral part of Buddhism… sometimes this distills into ‘everything in moderation’. While there is truth in this, there is also danger. You don’t want everything in moderation… you do not want any cyanide in your bloodstream! Lol.

But seriously, the Buddha practiced asceticism for years before he realized his Enlightened nature. I have written about this recently. By denying yourself of the nourishment it requires, this actually feeds your ego-mind. ‘I will deny myself pleasure. I will deny myself good health until I realize enlightenment. I will suffer.’ …. They all involve an affirmation of ‘I’.

I don’t think I need to discuss the opposite of this… of hedonism.

So I ask myself.. could the Buddha have realized his enlightenment if his body wasn’t taken care of?

The Middle Way is not about checking yourself if you have too much or too little. It is a result, not a precursor of realizing we are already complete, already buddhas. But certainly it is wise to follow the Middle Way before our realization.

All of the Buddha’s teachings are the natural function of realizing our Enlightened state.

There is a saying that God will never give you more than you can handle. In Zen, we say that a bad situation is a good situation. God knows what he is doing.. He is pure Love, no? He is the ultimate teacher so when we suffer, have a horrific situation… can we see good in that? I like to think these things out in extremes. For example, say we were witness to unimaginable massacres that do occur… We see family and friends murdered before our eyes. God as a teacher seems absent. We might not be able to handle it and have a mental breakdown. How horrible. Can we learn and grow from this experience? We might not allow ourselves to take anything ‘good’ from it, it may feel like we would be disrespecting what occurred. ‘I refuse to see anything good from such evil’. Does this not make the evil even more evil? Does it not make it triumph even more over us? I know if my family saw me killed in a horrific way I would want them to somehow learn from it. Mourning wouldn’t be diminished for this.

So, a bad situation is a good situation. It can provide us with the passion to find our true nature. Who we truly are. In times of extreme distress, nonreligious people will pray for God’s help, for a higher power’s help… desperate, they reach out for help… beg for help and offer repentance or service.

Zen Master Dogen said we must practice as if our hair was caught on fire….

Our hair has been burning for longer than time exists, we just haven’t realized it yet.

Like a flower unfolding under the right conditions of warmth and light, our hearts too respond to the circumstances around us.

All Buddhas have experienced Enlightenment only through circumstances. Gautama Buddha saw Venus and BAM…alignment with the Universe’s heart was precise.

Although it is important to provide our soil with the correct nutrients and warmth and light, even the roasting and suffocating surface of Venus can spark this magical unfolding… this alignment.

Be still and honest within yourself and do not deny proper care to your garden. The Buddha, before Enlightenment, was a prince, living with amazing luxuries… he gave that all up and denied himself even the most basic of nourishment and grew sick and hungry. Years passed and a compassionate woman gave him some milk infused with rice… nourishment and his body responded to this love, this care. He discovered the Middle Way. Do not live in excess, yet do not deny yourself of proper care.

Do not seek heaven for reward and do not seek hell for self punishment.

The Universe has taken billions of years to get you where you are… it knows what it is doing.. having faith in this allows our alignment towards Truth and Freedom and Love to blossom.